Watch: Education Secretary John King Shares Vision For Educational Equity

Inequality is stubbornly persistent in the American public education system — 62 years after Brown v. Board of Education. U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. said that while the nation has made progress, there is much more work ahead.

King spoke recently about education equity with moderator Maria Hinojosa at the joint convention of the National Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists. The secretary’s comments were the subject of a NewsOne Now panel discussion, moderated by host Roland Martin and sponsored by the University of Phoenix.

The Government Accountability Office used the anniversary of Brown to release a report that highlighted how little has changed over the decades.

In fact, the nation’s percentage of K-12 public schools with pupils who are poor and students of color is growing. The report found that, from school years 2000-01 to 2013-14, the “percentage of all K-12 public schools that had high percentages of poor and Black or Hispanic students grew from 9 to 16 percent.”

King said turning the tide on inequity is a primary focus of his leadership. He’s also addressing the urgent need to bring more teachers of color into the classroom and to provide diversity training to help White teachers meet the needs of a school population that’s now majority minority.